Field Notes - Sept 26, '25

Executive Signals

AEO is the new SEO: capture answer-engine intent with long-tail docs and TLDR videos
Speed vs depth : sub-30s signal, stream the rest
Sell in the moment: community warms; conversion happens live in-call
One intent, one CTA: clarity beats breadth in regulated buyer journeys
Trust is versioned: exact spec strings across pages and reports or credibility dies

Blog traffic can stay flat while MQLs crater. Treat answer engines like search: ship extreme long-tail help docs and a 60–90 second video TLDR per post. YouTube’s domain authority carries the summaries, and ChatGPT referrals are converting; one Series A sees roughly one-fifth of that traffic reach MQL.

If SEO MQLs −50% for 90 days, shift 50% capacity to long-tail + video
Publish 1–2 TLDRs/day; put the primary CTA in the YouTube description
Track ChatGPT referrals through to MQL, not just sessions

Win “Free PCI Scan” Intent With Instant Output

Searchers expect a real result, not a form. Offer a PCI‑flavored, above‑the‑fold signal in under 30 seconds, then invite a deeper walkthrough. Separate buyer paths to reduce mismatch and measure the full click-to-demo funnel.

Ship pass/fail + top issues in <30s, upsell deeper checks post-result
Split “merchant self-check” from “auditor/QSA pack”
Track paid CTR → first result view → demo rate; pause keywords missing sub‑30s signal

Sales

Community-First, Convert In-Call, Factory Your Meetings

Outbound email is tapped; LinkedIn and community threads work when they don’t read like sales. Conversion happens live, not in follow-ups. Turn every meeting into media to scale founder time without diluting signal.

Book the demo on the call, not via follow-up
Record all meetings; auto 1 post + 3 clips per call via n8n or Zapier
Engage in non-salesy community threads to fill top-of-funnel

Product

Ship a 30-Second Privacy Scan, Stream the Rest

Win attention with an instant, above-the-fold signal. Show a traffic‑light score and data‑flow map within ~30 seconds, then stream deeper modules as enrichment instead of prerequisites.

Time-to-first-signal <30s for 1–30 pages; heavier flows as later stages
Top section: risk color, one-line finding, destination map; tabs can route to “Talk to an expert”
Collect email only if the scan must run async

Lead With PII Exfiltration, Not Just Malware

Commodity scanners find malware; differentiation is showing where user data goes. Score for cross‑border transfers, consent violations, and high‑risk destinations. The first load should reveal a plain-English verdict and a visual map of data egress.

Score drivers: vendor count, consent violations, PII categories, endpoint jurisdictions
Flag sensitive PII leaving region or hitting high‑risk destinations pre‑consent
Show logos/domains for proof; reserve raw tables for demos

One Scanner, One Promise

Pick one user intent per entry point. Blending security, privacy, and compliance confuses buyers and dilutes conversion. Keep one primary CTA and design for one‑screen comprehension.

Split experiences (e.g., “Security scan” vs “Privacy compliance check”) and A/B them
Keep a single CTA; demote secondary actions below the fold or in‑stream
Wireframe first to prevent ornamental bloat

Engineering

Decouple Frontend and Backend; Stream Findings

Backend availability should not gate first value. Build the frontend to render progressively so users see partial results as stages complete, while heavy enrichments run in the background.

Emit partial results per stage; never wait for “all done”
Instrument stage latencies; drop steps that don’t move score or CTA conversion
Use feature flags to add or remove heavy checks without redesigning reports

Version Precision Is Trust in Regulated Markets

Small copy errors disqualify you in compliance workflows. Spec strings and versions must be exact across marketing surfaces and reports, or credibility evaporates.

Add a compliance “lint” to CI for spec names and versions
Centralize spec strings; ban hard-coded variants in pages and screenshots
Gate launches on rapid review by one to two domain experts

Field Notes